Automatic brick placing machine loader

ABSTRACT

A loader for an automatic brick placing machine consisting of a frame (14) attached to a receptacle (10) of the machine to move with it. The loader having a plurality of stations for the reception of bricks for loading into the receptacle and an arrangement of rollers, stops and conveyors (16, 17, 20, 22) to space the bricks apart at an appropriate distance and to move them towards the receptacle while arranging the bricks in such a manner that bricks in the correct positions and quantities are fed to the receptacle (10) to form a brick panel of a predetermined configuration. The whole being controlled by a programmable logic controller.

The present invention relates to an automatic brick placing machineloader intended for use in conjunction with a brick placing machine suchas that described in the specification of Australian Patent 599266.

While the brick placing machine described in that specification has beenfound to function very satisfactorily some shortcomings have been notedin relation to the loading of the machine. The receptacle of the machinecannot be reloaded until a cycle of operations has been completed andthe receptacle returned to the loading position. With standard bricksthe loading time for a full receptacle using two operators isapproximately 40 seconds and the overall machine cycle time isapproximately 68 seconds. By using more labour the loading time could bedecreased but not significantly. If a smaller brick size were usednecessitating the loading of more brick elements into the receptacle theloading time would increase and not decrease.

Consideration of the economics of the operation of the machine revealsthat the cycle time of the brick placing machine is critical tocommercial viability, in fact more critical than the labour content tooperate it, due to the available time for the brick placing activityduring a 12 hour brick manufacturing cycle.

The object of the present invention is to provide an automatic brickplacing machine loader capable of loading the brick placing machinereceptacle in a time of the order of 5 seconds utilizing one operatorand any sized brick and reducing the overall cycle time to under 30seconds. The fact that this can be achieved with smaller bricks issignificant as, while greater productivity can be achieved and labourcosts lowered with larger brick elements these are far less popular thanthe smaller bricks as a result of which brick manufacturers arereluctant to supply larger bricks.

The present invention consists in a loader for an automatic brickplacing machine consisting of a frame, means for attachment of the frameto a receptacle of a brick placing machine for translational movementtherewith, a plurality of motor driven rollers for the receipt of bricksarranged on the frame, said rollers being arranged in parallel at aplurality of stations and being constructed and arranged to move brickstowards a station from which the bricks are transferred to a brickplacing machine, said stations including a first station having meansfor receiving a row of bricks in a close side by side configuration andmoving said bricks into a configuration in which they are equally spacedapart at a predetermined interval, means at each station actuable toprevent movement of any brick caused by the rotation of one of saidrollers, a final station for receiving a predetermined number of bricksarranged in predetermined position in accordance with the requirementsof the brick placing machine in the formation of a brick panel, means totransfer said last mentioned bricks from the said final station to areceptacle of a brick placing machine while preserving the relativepositions of said bricks, a pre-final station prior to said finalstation having means for moving bricks received from a previous stationalong the pre-final station to predetermined positions for transfer tothe final station and a programmable logic controller or other likecontrol device programmed to control the movement of moving parts of themachine to effect movement of bricks through the machine to transferbricks to the brick placing machine in accordance with the requirementsof a brick panel being formed by the brick placing machine.

In order that the nature of the invention may be better understood apreferred form thereof is hereinafter described by way of example withreference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an automatic brick placing machineloader according to the invention arranged adjacent a brick placingmachine;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are views in elevation illustrating the operation of abelt for spreading bricks apart at station No. 1;

FIG. 4 illustrates diagrammatically the relationship between the variousstations of the loader;

FIG. 5 illustrates diagrammatically the relationship between the variousrollers, belts and stops of the loader;

FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 are plan views of the mechanism by means of which theloader is moved in accordance with movements of the brick placingmachine;

FIG. 9 is a view of a typical brick panel to be formed by the brickplacing machine; and

FIG. 10 is a semi schematic cross-sectional view of a roller used in theloader.

In FIG. 1 the brick receptacle arm of a brick placing machine asdescribed in As shown in FIG. 10, the specification of Australian Patent599266 is shown at 10 and the mechanism by which the receptacle isrotated onto the horizontal mould 11 is shown at 12. The brick loader 13consists of a frame 14 supported on four ground engaging wheels 15 ofwhich only three are shown in FIG. 1. The fourth is however shown inFIGS. 6, 7 and 8. The frame 14 supports a series of horizontal rollersat a series of nine stations as indicated in FIG. 4, there being tworollers 16 at each station up to station 6 and at station 8. Station 7has three rollers and station 9 a single roller. The rollers 16 arerotated about their axes by motors (not shown) each roller consisting ofa central axle 30 rotating within an external tube and being connectedto the tube 31 by a clutch 32. The central axles rotate at all times butthe tubes cease rotating by the action of the clutch if bricks that theyare carrying are caused to stop in the manner described below.

The structure of the loader is best described in connection with itsmode of operation and, while in FIG. 1 the loader is shown with a fullload of bricks it will be assumed that it is empty. Bricks are placed onthe loader by an operator using a conventional counterweighted clampingdevice with which a predetermined number of bricks, for example 12, istaken from a pallet or pack and placed in a row on the rollers ofstation 1. The stations are numbered from the left hand end of theloader as shown in FIG. 1. At station 1 there is provided an expandingbelt 17 the operation of which is illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. The belt17 is arranged so that it lies normally at a lower level than therollers 16. After the row of bricks has been placed on the rollers 16the belt 17 is raised by means of the jacks 18 to lift the bricks fromthe rollers as illustrated in FIG. 2 (the rollers are not shown in thisfigure). Jacks 19 are then used to expand the belt 17 to the positionshown in FIG. 3. The effect of this is that bricks carried on the belt17 are moved from a position in which they are in close contact to onein which they are equally spaced across the width of the belt. The jacks18 then act to lower the bricks back onto the rollers 16. These rollersare continually rotating and if there is no obstacle to the motion ofthe row of bricks these will be moved forward to station number 2. Thereare however provided at each station stops 20 that can be raised andlowered by means of jacks 21. In FIG. 5 the stop 20 at the first stationis shown in the raised position and it will be seen that in thisposition it prevents bricks on the rollers 16 of station 1 from movingforward. At each station a stop is provided for each individual brickand in the first five stations these stops are raised and loweredsimultaneously. At station 6 however the stops are arranged to becontrolled independently.

Bricks are loaded onto station 1 and move forward to fill the first fivestations. If station 6 is empty the bricks from station 5 will becarried forward to station 6. If during the operation of the loaderstation 6 becomes empty the stops are removed from stations 1 to 5simultaneously and the bricks on these move forward so that station 6becomes filled.

Bricks are supplied from station 6 either individually or in groups tostation 7 to form a pattern of bricks at that station corresponding tothe pattern of bricks required by the brick loading machine to form apanel of a desired configuration.

At station 7 are two conveyors 22 and 23 each conveyor terminating atits inner end at the midline of the frame 13. The conveyors 22 and 23are used to move bricks delivered from station 6 to station 7 across thewidth of the frame. It will be seen that station 7 is the full width ofthe receptacle 10 as are stations 8 and 9 whereas the preceding stationsare narrower. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 the receptacle 10 isarranged to accommodate 24 bricks across its width whereas stations 1 to6 accommodate 12. The receptacle and the various stations may beconstructed to accommodate a greater or lesser number of bricks asdesired.

The whole operation of the loader is controlled by a PLC (programmablelogic controller) which is programmed for the formation of a particularbrick panel, such as for example, that illustrated in FIG. 9. Theprogramming of such a PLC is not described in this specification as itwould be a routine matter for a skilled programmer. The PLC controls theoperation of stops 20 and conveyors 22 and 23 and all other moving partsof the machine so that bricks are formed up at station 7 in the correctconfiguration for the next portion of the panel to be formed. It will beseen from FIG. 9 that where door and window openings are to be formed inthe panel fewer bricks will be required and at these positions only theappropriate number of bricks must be fed to the receptacle 10.

After bricks have been assembled in the correct configuration at station7 they are moved forward to station 8 by retraction of the appropriatestops 20 and from station 8 to station 9 where they come under theinfluence of the pushing device 24 which can be lowered behind thebricks in station 9 by the jacks 25 and moved forward by the jacks 26 soas to push bricks at station 9 into the receptacle 10. The pusher 24 isconstructed so that when the bricks enter the receptacle 10 they are ina staggered relationship as shown in FIG. 1. After transfer of thebricks to the receptacle 10 the pusher 24 is returned to its originalposition. The receptacle 10 will have now received its correct number ofbricks and will act to clamp them and deposit them on the mould 11 inthe manner described in the abovementioned patent specification. Afterreleasing the bricks onto the mould 11 the receptacle 10 returns to itsprevious position and the whole cycle recommences. On each occasion thatthe receptacle 10 is filled it is filled with precisely the correctnumber of bricks arranged in the correct positions to form the nextstage of the panel being laid down on the mould 11.

As illustrated in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 the frame 7 is connected to the brickplacing machine by means of the swinging arms 25. After each operationof the receptacle 10 to deliver bricks onto the mould 11 the brickplacing machine is moved forward by the jack 26 in the manner describedin the abovementioned specification. As the member 27 of the brickplacing machine is moved from the position at FIG. 6 to that of FIG. 7the arms 25 move in the manner shown and on taking up the position shownin FIG. 7 they actuate a valve 28 that has the effect of energizing aslave hydraulic motor 29 which drives the wheel 15 and thus moves theframe 14 of the loading machine forward as illustrated in FIG. 8. Themotion of the loader will thus follow very closely the motion of thebrick placing machine.

In an alternative form of construction, instead of using the pusher 24to transfer bricks to the receptacle 10, the receptacle 10 may beconstructed so as to be capable of rotating about a median longitudinalaxis so that it can be rotated and brought over on top of bricks atstation 9 and clamped about these bricks. It is then returned to theposition shown in FIG. 1 and operates as described above. This form ofconstruction is to be preferred as being simpler and more effective inoperation than the use of the pusher 24.

The embodiment of the invention described is given by way of exampleonly as constituting one form of apparatus within the general scope ofthe invention as defined above.

I claim:
 1. A loader for an automatic brick placing machine comprising aframe, means for attachment of the frame to a receptacle of a brickplacing machine for translational movement therewith, a plurality ofmotor driven rollers for the receipt of bricks arranged on the frame,said rollers being arranged in parallel at a plurality of stations andbeing constructed and arranged to move bricks towards a station fromwhich the bricks are transferred to a brick placing machine, saidstations including a first station having means for receiving a row ofbricks in a close side by side configuration and moving said bricks intoa configuration in which they are equally spaced apart at apredetermined interval, means at each station actuable to preventmovement of any brick caused by the rotation of one of said rollers, afinal station for receiving a predetermined number of bricks arranged inpredetermined position in accordance with the requirements of the brickplacing machine in the formation of a brick panel, means to transfersaid last mentioned bricks from the said final station to the receptacleof a brick placing machine while preserving the relative positions ofsaid bricks, a pre-final station prior to said final station havingmeans for moving bricks received from a previous station along thepre-final station to predetermined positions for transfer to the finalstation and a programmable logic controller control device programmed tocontrol the movement of moving parts of the loader to effect movement ofthe bricks through the loader to transfer bricks to the brick placingmachine in accordance with the requirements of a brick panel beingformed by the brick placing machine.
 2. A loader as claimed in claim 1wherein the means for moving the bricks into a configuration in whichthey are equally spaced apart at a predetermined interval comprise anexpanding belt arranged below the bricks, means to raise the belt intocontact with the bricks and to lift them free of underlaying rollers,each brick being supported on a separate part of the belt and means toexpand the belt to separate said parts a distance corresponding to saidpredetermined interval.
 3. A loader as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2wherein each said motor driven roller consists of a central axle and asurrounding tube connected to the axle through a clutch, the axles beingcontinually rotated, the clutch permitting the rotation of the tube tostop on movement of a brick or bricks being prevented.
 4. A loader asclaimed in claim 1 wherein the means at the pre-final station for movingbricks along the station comprise two conveyors arranged end to end andextending longitudinally of the station.
 5. A loader as claimed in claim1 wherein the transfer of bricks from the final station to thereceptacle comprises a pusher arranged to push bricks in a staggeredrelationship onto the receptacle.
 6. A loader as claimed in claim 1supported from the ground on wheels with at least one of which motormeans is associated, the loader being attached to the brick placingmachine by means of swinging arms, the arrangement being such thatmovement of the machine changes the angular relationship between thearms and the machine to cause operation of means to actuate said motormeans to cause the loader to move in the direction of movement of themachine to restore the relationship of said arms with the machine.